In a Violent Nature: Somnambulistic Slasher

In a Violent Nature is helmed by Chris Nash, who also wrote the story. It moves like a somnambulistic slasher film, a snail with arthritis could have beaten the slow pace of the movie’s villain. Whilst it becomes tedious to the point of just leaving the film for a break, there are things that are spot on. Flying under the SHUDDER banner, In a Violent Nature does some things perfectly. However, the pace of the thing needs a B-12 injection.

Synopsis

A ranger dies and his soul, and body, are trapped in the ruins of an old firewatch tower. A small gold necklace keeps the ranger from rising out of his grave and creating havoc. A young person takes the trinket from the tower and the ranger wakes and begins a very slow paced murder spree.

Things that work

The FX is spot on. In a Violent Nature the kills and the special effects that create the illusion of death at the hands of the vengeful ranger are very impressive. This is not too surprising as Nash has some solid bona fides, a list of no less than 15 titles is tucked under the director’s belt in special effects.

Each kill in the film is solid and looks quite realistic. The gore factor is pretty heavy. Considering the different ways that “Ranger Rick” takes out those who get in his way, these are the highlight of the movie.

The kill at the cliff is, perhaps, the best slasher moment ever. This type of originality saves the film from being too hard to watch. However, watching the back of a killer wandering through the woods turns the movie into a bit of an ordeal.

In a Violent Nature has some issues that almost turned this slasher film into a snooze fest. The sheer drudgery of waiting for the killer to strike comes very close to “killing” the film.

The slow walk, something that gamers must recognize from, for example, Dragon Age: Origins where one has to walk everywhere. Reaching the next task seemingly takes forever.

Things that do not work

The camera following the dead ranger gives us the back of his body and head. Watching the sauntering pace of the killer moving so slowly, in the “Jason” style of stalking prey, almost kills off the movie.

Another thing that did not work very well was the fire fighting headgear that the ranger wore. Despite the fact that the “eyes” were different he literally made me think of Bender from Futurama from the neck up.

It’s a Wrap

After all is said and done, In a Violent Nature is, at the heart of it, a pretty good film. While the sheer frustration at the snail’s pace of the killer almost destroys the whole thing, the kills themselves bolster the film’s interest level. Nash does impress with his directing skills. Adding nods and winks to other slasher films also works well.

The road scene with the pickup truck is a clear nod to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Some things that Nash offered up made the film special, lack of a musical score for instance. The lack of music gives a real “fly on the wall” sensation and this decision also goes a long way toward keeping the film from ending up in the bargain bin.

In a Violent Nature is set to premier on May 31 in theatres. Have a look at the trailer and see if it tickles your fancy. Mike’s Film Talk gives this one a solid 3 stars out of 5.